New Blood Test Could Spot Dangerous Type of Stroke [Video]

Key Takeaways

Identifying the type of stroke a patient has suffered is crucial to timely treatment and survivalA new blood test might help spot a particularly deadly form of stroke called an LVOThe test might be used in ambulances as patients are rushed to ERs, the researchers said

MONDAY, May 20, 2024 — When a stroke hits, “time is brain,” doctors say, with neurons beginning to die off in minutes.

Quickly figuring out which type of stroke a patient has been hit with is crucial. Now, an experimental blood test might speed that process along.

A team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston report their test can determine with high accuracy whether or not a patient has suffered a highly lethal type of stroke called large vessel occlusion (LVO).

Once that determination is made, the test gives doctors the green light to use a surgical technique called mechanical thrombectomy to quickly retrieve the LVO clot from any large …